Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Donn'ee \Don`n['e]e"\, n. [F., fr. donner to give.]
   Lit., given; hence, in a literary work, as a drama or tale,
   that which is assumed as to characters, situation, etc., as a
   basis for the plot or story. --W. E. Henley.

         That favorite romance donn['e]e of the heir kept out of
         his own.                                 --Saintsbury.